Novak Djokovic has won his eighth Australian Open and 17th grand slam singles title, beating Dominic Thiem in an epic five-setter at Melbourne Park.
The highly-favoured Djokovic was made to fight for everything by the Austrian fifth seed, coming from two sets to one down before sealing victory in a 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 thriller.
The victory puts Djokovic behind only Rafael Nadal (19) and Roger Federer (20) in the ranks of men's major title winners.
Given the disparity in grand slam success, and the fact he had spent six fewer hours on court than his opponent to get to the final, there was no surprise that Djokovic — going for his 17th grand slam singles title — went in the favourite.
But it so very nearly went all wrong.
At one point, Djokovic lost six games in a row, as his game appeared set to fall apart following a confrontation with umpire Damien Dumusois.
Serving at 4-4 in the second set, the defending champion was called twice for time violations before giving up the break.
A frustrated Djokovic boiled over, tapping the umpire on his feet as he passed by and saying: "You made yourself famous. Especially on that second one (time violation). Well done."
Thiem — who was in his third grand slam final after two French Open losses to Rafael Nadal — took control, winning the second set and racing to a big advantage in the third.
Djokovic's mood was not improved by the fact the crowd were largely supporting Thiem, and he also had to call for medical attention on a couple of occasions.
The upset appeared well and truly on, but the champion found another gear.
He kept the pressure up on Thiem — whose powerful groundstrokes had been proving a big weapon — and suddenly an error and a double fault gave Djokovic two break points for 5-3 in the fourth.
Thiem saved one, but missed a forehand to give an energised Djokovic the vital break.
Djokovic levelled at two sets all and, when he forced a string of Thiem unforced errors to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth, the comeback was almost complete.
The Austrian refused to give in and the crowd were treated to some incredible rallies as both men pushed themselves to the edge.
Thiem had two chances to break back, but both points ended in frustration as he committed unforced errors to keep the advantage with the champion.
The end came after three hours and 59 minutes and fittingly, it finished with a big rally.
Djokovic served out wide to the Thiem forehand and took control of the point, moving his opponent around the court before his deep approach was met by a crosscourt forehand that went just wide.
It was a relatively subdued celebration for the Serbian, who pointed to his coaches box and then walked slowly to the net, acknowledging the crowd's cheers.
The pair had played on 10 previous occasions, with Djokovic winning six and Thiem four. On hardcourt, Djokovic held the advantage with three wins to Thiem's one.
But overall, Thiem had won four out of the last five matches between the two.
Djokovic began with two aces in his opening service game.
The Serbian star's insane court coverage was on display, as he won a big point to force break point, and another long rally ended with Thiem hitting the net to go down 0-2.
The crowd were vocal in their support of Thiem's winners, but the Austrian was having to work very hard for his points. When he finally held for 1-3, there was a huge roar.
But Djokovic quickly answered. He wasn't hitting a string of clean winners, but his constant pressure and ability to move Thiem around was cutting the speed of the Austrian's shots on either wing.
Eventually, Thiem's power groundstrokes game started working — a 162kph winner was just one of a series of great shots from the Austrian.
By the time he had lost the first set, the crowd's support for him had already started getting to Djokovic.
The defending champion raced through a love game to start the second set.
Then one of the points of the match came on Thiem's serve, with both players applying higher maths with insane angles and drop shots, followed by a fierce groundstroke duel, and ending with a frustrated Djokovic pushing a forehand just wide.
Thiem had three cracks at a break point in the third game, and finally a shocking double fault from Djokovic gave him the break.
The set was still in the balance, but when Djokovic was called twice for serve before the clock ran out, he lost his cool, his serve, and ultimately the second set.
The third set that followed was one-sided, but just when all appeared lost, Djokovic produced his amazing comeback.
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